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In this paper a multiregional input-output model is proposed and used to estimate time series trends for water use, water footprint and water trade balance. By using data provided by the World Input-Output Database, the water used in production, consumption and trade is quantified for 41 world regions between 1995 and 2008. Results show that global water use grew by 37.3%, with China, India and Brazil contributing most to that increase. China and India, together with the EU-27, were also responsible for the largest water footprint variations. In terms of trade, the EU-27 was the largest water importer and China and India the main water exporters. The results provided in this paper offer an overview of the main countries' responsibility for the use of water resources. They provide a good starting point for international debates and policies on sustainable water use.

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Following the debate on the implications of international trade for global climate policy, this paper introduces the topic of the economic benefits from trade obtained by exporting countries in relation to the emissions generated in the production of exports. In 2008, 24% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and 20% of the employment around the world were linked to international trade. China “exported” 30% of emissions and hosted 37.5% of the jobs generated by trade worldwide. The European Union and the United States of America were the destination of 25% and 18.4% of the GHG emissions embodied in trade. The imports of these two regions contributed to the creation of 45% of the employment generated by international trade. This paper proposes the idea of including trade issues in international climate negotiations, taking into account not only the environmental burden generated by developed countries when displacing emissions to developing countries through their imports, but also the economic benefits of developing countries producing the goods exported to developed countries

A decomposition analysis of energy related CO2 emissions is carried out for 33 world countries. The data pertain to the period 1995-2007. The methodology used is the Index Decomposition Analysis that allows to investigate the contribution of the following factors: (i) changes in abatement technologies, fuel quality and fuel switching; (ii) changes in the structure and efficiency of the energy system; (iii) relative ranking of a country in terms of the total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) generation and (iv) changes of the country specific total economic activity. The World Input Output Database (WIOD) has been used together with OECD data on GDP. Results show that economic growth has been the main driving factor of energy related CO2 emissions increase. However, in fast developing countries like India and China, an important contribution has also been the increasing role that these economies are playing in the global economic panorama. Improvements on energy efficiency have been the main element contributing to reduce the overall CO2 emission increase in all the countries considered in this study.

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This paper provides an input-output method to estimate worldwide economic impacts generated by supply chain disruptions. The method is used to analyse global economic effects due to the disruptions in the automotive industry that followed the Japanese earthquake and the consequent tsunami and nuclear crisis of March 2011. By combining a mixed multi-regional input-output model, the World Input-Output Database and data at the factory level, the study quantifies the economic impacts of the disruptions broken down by country and industry. The results show that the global economic effect (in terms of value added) of this disruption amounted to US$139 billion. The most affected (groups of) countries were Japan (39%), the USA (25%), China (8%) and the European Union (7%). The most strongly affected industries were transport equipment (37%), other business activities (10%), basic and fabricated metals (8%), wholesale trade (7%) and financial intermediation (4%).